The New Jedi Order- Countervail
by Mitchell J Sullivan
Summary: After a savage battle for Commenor, the New Republic comes up with plans to destroy the peace brigade and to stop all future Yuuzhan Vong reinforcements.
1. Default Chapter

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Star Wars: The New Jedi Order

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Countervail

Preamble

Yes, I know Anakin Solo died in _Star by Star_, but he never should have. Anakin has always been one of the most interesting characters in the series, and I was looking forward to seeing how his character would develop. I have to wonder why Anakin was the one to die instead of Jacen, the confused and boring one. So, all continuity after about _Edge of Victory: Conquest_ does not exist. This is how _I_ would have taken the story (not moving Anakin's character at all – I promise!) 

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Chapter 1

Calling all of the force as he could into a single wave of kinetic energy, Kyp Durron pushed his hand forward and used it as a projector. In front of him, three blaster-wielding peace brigaders were sent hurtling into the outer wall of one of Commenor's main spaceports. The three hit the wall with a sickening _thud_, and all dropped their weapons. Kyp could sense that the life was knocked from two of them, and the other would not be waking up in time for the conclusion of the fight. 

With a sense of satisfaction that he did not even try to suppress, he turned and thumbed his lightsaber alight. The impressive blade cast shadows behind all of his pursuers that were close enough, and provoked emotions of confusion and fear amongst the peace brigaders. Surely they knew whom it was they chased, Kyp was famous across the Galaxy as one of the Jedi who was taking the fight directly to the Yuuzhan Vong. Surely, along with that, they knew they had no chance of capturing him alive without help. 

Which was why it stood to reason that they had reinforcements on the way in the form of Yuuzhan Vong warriors. 

For all of his power, not even Kyp wanted to be on the ground when a skip carrier arrived in orbit with ambitions of capturing him as a sacrifice to the Vong gods. Though with the way the peace brigaders were firing at the centre of his chest, he had to question whether the objective was capture or something much more final. 

With an inhuman grace, Kyp parried laser bolts out of the air with his saber, sending them directly back to their point of origin. He felt no remorse for the shooters who had died as a result – if they had set their weapons to stun, they would not be dead. There was nothing he could do for the ignorance of peace brigaders. 

After the last mercenary within shooting range went down, Kyp turned and resumed running toward the spaceport. He needed to get to his XJ3 X-wing. Once he was there, he felt confident he could blast his way out through any blockade the Yuuzhan Vong had prepared for him. Ahead of him, he saw three Commenor Security force guards raise their weapons to targets behind him, and begin to pick off the remaining pursuing peace brigaders. A pale-looking official moved to intercept Kyp at the doors. 

"Master Durron, your X-wing is ready to launch at pad Thirty-Two!" he had to shout to get over the noise of the blasters. Kyp did not stop to talk to the man, rather made him keep pace beside him. "Be advised! We've picked up multiple Yuuzhan Vong contacts emerging from Hyperspace in the system! There's over a hundred ships up there!" That gave Kyp reason to pause. Over one hundred ships? Not even he was worth that much trouble. That could only mean one thing: the Vong were preparing to invade the planet. 

So the peace brigaders weren't after him at all, they were just trying to make the best of a bad situation by capturing him. They thought that if they had a suitable sacrifice for the Vong then they would be spared their lives. Just the mentality of a peace brigader. 

Kyp turned back to the official. "Are you with the military?" he asked, the noise of the blasters had died down. The man shook his head. 

"No, I just run the spaceport. I can get into contact with someone, though, if you want-"

"Yes, tell them to settle in for along fight and to call for reinforcements from the New Republic. Those ships mean to invade Commenor," Kyp told the owner. His face went from pale to straight white, and he nodded. 

"I'll get on it, Master Durr… Ah!" the man cried. Kyp backed away sharply from the sudden screech. The man's eyes glazed over, and he fell to the ground. Embedded in his back was an amphistaff, and behind him loomed the all-too familiar silhouette of a seasoned Yuuzhan Vong warrior. 

Rage began to well inside Kyp, feeling irrationally angry over the death of the innocent man. He had done nothing to deserve death save for standing too close to a Jedi Knight. Using that rage – even though he knew it was _very_ dangerous – to fuel his force power, Kyp drew his lightsaber and launched into action. 

He doubted the warrior even knew that the Jedi had taken a step before his lightsaber sliced cleanly between his upper and lower jaw. The speed at which Kyp moved was powered purely from the force, propelling him faster than any other being might hope to match. Though even as Kyp closed down his saber and began to congratulate himself for such an effortless kill, his danger sense flared. 

Dropping down onto his knee and throwing himself into a strafing roll, he thumbed the activation switch on his saber again and came up ready. He was just in time to pick off a razorbug vectoring for his throat, and then a second that came from behind. His situation was not good. He had no way of detecting the Vong warriors with the force, and so had no idea how many of them he now confronted. 

Choosing to live now to fight later, Kyp began sprinting for pad thirty-two, where his X-wing was hopefully prepared for launch. A cold start in an X-wing took an average of two and a half minutes. He only hoped that the now dead official had thought to activate the systems. _Otherwise, this escape could be a little more difficult than anticipated._

Stopping only to sidestep and dismember a young and inexperienced Vong warrior, Kyp reached his X-wing in a matter of seconds. To his dismay, and perhaps even terror, the systems were still safely off. He used a force-aided jump to propel himself into the cockpit, and activated the emergency start button. Now he had an anxious three minute wait until his shields were operable again. 

Any thoughts he had of spending that time safely in his cockpit were shattered when a thudbug slammed into the forward hull of the ship, creating a small but noticeable dent. He couldn't let the vong damage the craft beyond operation; Commenor would surely fall. His only choice was to go out, and dispatch whatever warriors were a threat. _The force be with me…_

Flicking on the powerful floodlights his x-wing held, Kyp stepped out of the cockpit slowly. With the entire area bathed in light, the Yuuzhan Vong would have a hard time hiding from his vision. There were hardly any obstacles in the centre of a landing pad. 

It didn't take long for three warriors to emerge from the shadows at the edge of the landing pad. They approached slowly, in a V formation with their leader – the most heavily scarred – in the lead. Kyp activated his blade, and pointed it at the lead warrior. 

"I am the Jedi Master Kyp Durron. Challenge me at your peril," he said theatrically, using the force to amplify and carry his voice. Just for effect, he also billowed his dark robes and raised his lightsaber in front of his face, making himself appear as Jedi did in mainstream holodramas. 

Though Kyp felt odd announcing such a thing, the lead Yuuzhan Vong showed no signs that this was out of the ordinary. "I am Illnor Krest of Domain Krest, _Jeedai_ Durron. My peril is also my pleasure. Step forward," he replied. Kyp set his face, and swung his lightsaber into a low fighting stance. He kept his movements casual but fluid, all the while keeping a mental chronometer in his head. He still needed to buy about a minute and forty seconds before he could fly again. 

Kyp had worried that the other two warriors would also enter the fight, but they hung back, probably not daring to disgrace their leader's honour by interrupting his challenge. That suited Kyp just fine. 

Illnor Krest twirled his amphistaff in a very impressive series of loops, switching from hand to hand and spinning on his heel until he was eventually in range of Kyp. The Vong struck first, his amphistaff cutting down to the left side of Kyp's waist. He brought his glowing hot blade down to parry, and deflected the shot easily. The warrior compensated quickly, and flung himself into a half-twist that brought the amphistaff into the other side of Kyp. Blocking that shot, Kyp went on the offensive, slashing high and low in an attempt to find a weak spot in the warriors defence. He found none, but that presented no immediate problem. 

Now fully into the force, he fell into a pre-choreographed battle, stepping once to the left, twice to the left, then back-rolling to the right. A quick slash with his lightsaber forced the warrior off balance, which Kyp used his full advantage. A high chop above the warrior's head caused it to block high. As he did, Kyp placed his boot behind the Vong's leg, and put all of his weight behind his lightsaber. The Vong tripped over, sprawling to the ground in a way that made him look rather uncoordinated and sent his amphistaff scooting away across the Durasteel launch pad. The warrior screamed a loud prayer to his gods, expecting Kyp to slash down across his throat and finish the job. 

_One minute to go. Not yet._

Kyp stepped away from the fallen warrior, and resumed his holodrama stance. Looking confused, the three warriors began barking in a dialect Kyp couldn't understand. They sounded furious, though. 

"Why do you not kill me, _Jeedai_?" the Vong asked, getting to his feet again. _Because I need more time to get my ship up and running, you sithspawn. I'd rather keep sparring with you that face your two minions at the same time. _Kyp looked him in the hollow eyes, and put together a realistic-sounding excuse. 

"Because even _you_, Illnor Krest, deserve a fair chance at survival," Kyp said. The Warrior nodded his head once. 

"You have much honour, _Jeedai_. A trait that many others like you lack. You approach worthiness. A shame that such a blasphemous creature could never become a Yuuzhan Vong slave. You would be most effective," the Vong said as he scooped up his slithering Amphistaff. Kyp held eye contact, but made no gesture. 

_Thirty Seconds_. 

Illnor Krest came at him again, amphistaff spinning. Kyp sidestepped, but the did not fool the warrior. He swung the amphistaff in a move that would have cleaved him open sideways had the saber blade not stopped it. Kyp stepped backward, and went totally defensive. 

_Twenty-Five seconds_. 

As he stood Kyp had his back to the other two warriors, not a particularly wise stance for a Jedi Knight to take. However, for what he had in mind, it was essential. He parried to more chops on his right, then a third on his left. 

_Twenty Seconds_. 

A whining noise began sounding from the X-wing, signalling final engine warm up. In ten seconds, his ship would be ready to lift off. It was time to end this duel. Still parrying amphistaff swings, Kyp backed up far enough that the warriors were within range behind him. Then, gathering all the force behind it, Kyp parried a cut and kicked Illnor Krest to the ground. In a precision 360 degree twist, Kyp neatly decapitated the two unsuspecting warriors behind him and flicked his lightsaber directly at Illnor Krest's face. 

His throw was devastatingly accurate. The lightsaber burned through his head, and sank into the durasteel on the other side of his skull, pinning the convulsing body the ground. Three seconds, three warriors. The other Jedi Knights would have to do something pretty spectacular to beat that record. 

Calling his saber back to his hand with the force, Kyp hastened back to his X-wing. He had saved himself, now all he had to do was save Commenor. 

***

The situation in orbit was not as bad as Kyp feared it might have been. That said, there were still now at least three hundred Yuuzhan Vong capital ships in the system. _Three hundred is not one thousand, though_. 

From memory, Commenor's orbital defence fleet consisted of a pair of Mon Calamari cruisers and a salvaged _Victory_ class star destroyer, as well as a pair of Golan II orbital defence platforms. The starfighter compliment was – at best – seventeen squadrons, though the number thirteen seemed to stick in his mind. 

A quick count now revealed there to be eleven fighter squadrons, so anywhere from six to two squadrons had been annihilated. In less than five minutes. 

Kyp opened a general channel to all the military ships in the area.

"New Republic Forces, this is Jedi Knight Kyp Durron. I request that you turn over starfighter command to my leadership," he offered. He didn't expect to be opposed, and found that – not surprisingly – the Admiral in charge of the battle was rather relieved. 

"Jedi Durron, this is Admiral Arthures. We are extremely grateful for your help. Our ten remaining squadrons are being informed now," the Admiral replied. 

"Admiral, have you called for reinforcements?" Kyp asked. The reply was overlaid with static, but Kyp caught most of it. 

"Of course we have. Coruscant says they're sending over battle group three, and a portion of battle group five. ETA fifty-six minutes."

"Was there any mention of Jedi Master Skywalker's battle group?" Kyp inquired. His squadron Kyp's dozen, along with an entire wing of Jedi pilots, were stationed at Eclipse base. If this battle was going to be won, the force was telling Kyp that they needed to be there. 

"No, I don't recall mention of Master Skywalker's battle group. Should there have been?" the Admiral asked, sounding anxious. His ship was still out of range of the closest Vong ships, but not for long. For all the strength of Mon Cal shields, not even they could hold out against a Vong onslaught. 

"Not officially Admiral, but I will put a call through for some Jedi support. With your authorisation, of course," Kyp formally asked. 

"Please," the Admiral simply stated. Now he sounded distracted, probably planning the battle. Kyp nodded, and did not bother to reply. He had no doubt that Eclipse would send its fighter wing. If Commenor fell, the Yuuzhan Vong would have a clear shot at Coruscant. That was something that Master Skywalker would never allow to happen. 

He opened a channel to eclipse, strengthened with the force, and relayed the information. The battle for Commenor had begun.


	2. Ambivalence

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2

Mara Jade Skywalker had never felt so disheartened yet so overjoyed at the same time in her life. Disheartened, because of the very unfortunate state of the Galaxy. The Yuuzhan Vong pressed over onward toward the core, toward her family, toward the heart of the New Republic she had helped to build. And yet overjoyed, because she finally had all that she wanted out of her life. She had a marvellous -- if a little too perfect – husband, a successful Jedi Apprentice and most importantly, she had a child of her own. It depended on what time of day it was, with whom she kept company or how outside events dictated that decided which one won out. 

This was definitely a time which she was disheartened. Far too often lately, she was in exactly the same situations. Jetting off in the _Jade Shadow_ with a wing full of Jedi Pilots to stop some invading Yuuzhan Vong force that threatened the core. Always it ended the same way: the Yuuzhan Vong would attack, and the New Republic would either withdraw or force them to retreat. And so it would go on, forever if they let it. 

_Until, one day, we come away with less than we started with_

"Have faith, Mara," Luke Skywalker's voice drifted on the comm. 

Mara immediately snapped back to the present, remembering exactly where she was. She was in the cockpit of the _Shadow_, in Hyperspace enroute to Commenor. Luke was holed up in the docking bay in his own starfighter. Never one to let her true feelings burden others, Mara kept her voice playful and shutdown her emotions. She cursed herself for letting her husband read her so easily. 

"Stay out of my mind, Skywalker," she automatically responded. She sent him a quick reassuring mental caress, just so he knew that she was joking. She could just imagine the innocent, farmboy smile spreading on his lips. 

"I'm sorry. But it's kind of hard not to overhear, back here. You're broadcasting pretty strongly," he apologised. She shook her head, amused. 

"I was just reflecting on our position at the moment," she explained. 

"I know, and I know how you feel. Life is great, but life is treacherous. There are a million reasons to feel happy, but a million reasons to counter them. And so the countervail goes on. But thinking like that is just adding another reason to feel sad. Concentrate on the good, Mara. The bad things are always outnumbered. Always," he said. 

Mara chuckled. "Thankyou, Master Skywalker. I'll see you next lesson," she joked. A wave of indignation mixed with conceded mirth rolled off him, accepting her jab at him. _Don't worry, Skywalker. It's just one of the reasons why I love you_, she thought at him. 

"I'm just thinking maybe I should write that one down and give Ben the spiel when he's old enough. It's a good little on-the-spot lecture," he suggested. 

"Ask Artoo to file it away for you," she said, agreeing. A flicker of warmth and concern ignited inside Mara when she thought of her son. Safe back on Coruscant in the care of Han and Leia – or at least the nanny droid – she wished that she could be back with him. She could tell that Luke was feeling exactly the same way. 

"I wonder what he'll look like," Mara asked, more to herself than to Luke. 

"If it's anything like Anakin, the Newsvids are going to love him," Luke answered her. Mara snorted a laugh through her nose. It was true, Anakin's young and handsome looks had caused him to become the New Republic's stereotype image of a valiant Jedi Knight, replacing the old tired look of herself or Luke or even Kyp Durron. _Not tired, seasoned_, she told herself. With experience came a few wrinkles, and Mara didn't mind that. 

"Speaking of Solo children, how is Jania?" Luke asked Mara. 

These days, Mara wasn't even sure. One of the many perks of being a starfighter pilot with Rogue Squadron was that one was constantly on call, and lived with squadmates. Mara had seen less of Jania than she had of Jabba the Hutt over the last six months. 

"The last I spoke to her, things weren't going too bad. She's just being a pilot, Luke. Still, that can't be easy on a nineteen year old gi… I mean, woman. Sithspawn, I still can't get used to her being grown up. I can't get used to any of them being grown up. Just yesterday they were little, eager Jedi Apprentices. Now they're all big and doing their own thing." 

Again, Mara thought of Ben. How long would it be before she said the same thing about him? How long before he was off, saving the galaxy, racing ahead of his mother and father while they struggled to keep up with what he was saying?

"All too soon, I'm afraid," Luke answered her thoughts. 

"Skywalker, I am warning you-"

"Stay out of your mind, got it. We exit hyperspace in ten minutes. Better get prepped," he said, looking for any excuse to turn off the comm. _You'd do well to stay out of my sights during this battle, Skywalker,_ she thought at him. Suddenly, a surge of amusement pulsed through him.

"Mara?" Luke asked.

"Yes, Luke?"

"Stay out of my mind."


	3. Rogue Thirteen

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3

Anakin Solo let the computer cut his Hyperspace engine for him, and immediately opened himself to the force. Directly in front of him he felt the gigantic blob of Yuuzhan Vong life signs, thanks to his lambent crystal. Mixed with them were the normal sentient signs of New Republic citizens, as well as the bright force presence of Kyp Durron. 

"Fiver, set shields to maximum and activate the inertial compensation shields," Anakin ordered the R-7 astromech droid. As he did, he activated his laser systems and dialled his interior inertial compensator down to ninety-seven percent. 

"Okay, Little Brother, let's get into contact with the Rogues," Jania called to him over the comm system. 

"Affirmative, sticks," Anakin responded. Recalling their instructions, Anakin an Jania did not fit into any of Uncle Luke's fighter squadrons, so they were to join up with Colonel Darklighter and assist Rogue Squadron in any way they could. Jania had assured Uncle Luke that they would be allowed into the squadron, and Anakin could only hope that was the case. Otherwise, they were to form a three ship flight with Kyp Durron. Jania had been hoping against hope that it would not come to that. 

One of the first things Anakin noticed about the battle raging in front of him was the _Viscount_-class cruiser present at the battle. The massive four-kilometre long vessel was the largest ever produced by the Mon Calamari, and boasted every system the Mon Calamari cruisers were famous for and more. The ship easily dwarfed the largest ship the Yuuzhan Vong had to offer for Commenor. Maybe this ship, and the ten fighter squadron assigned to her, could go some way to actually winning this battle. 

Other than the _Viscount_, the battle involved all of battle group three – which contained three Bothan Assault cruisers and an _Imperial_-class Star Destroyer – and two other MC-90 Calamari Cruisers that belonged to battle group five. In excess of thirty Corellian Gunships were in support roles, but they stuck close to the big cruisers. They were primarily to pick off any Coralskippers that wanted to try and batter the shields down. So far it seemed to be effective. 

Just to his left, Anakin saw his Uncle Luke's fighter drop from the cargo bay of the _Jade Shadow_ and glide majestically to the head of the formation. His voice resonated from the general channel, "May the force be with you. All of you."

_And you too, Uncle Luke_. 

Anakin flicked his comm channel just in time to hear his sister calling to the Rogues. 

"Colonel Darklighter, this is Lieutenant Jania Solo travelling with Anakin Solo. We request permission to join Rogue Squadron for the duration of this mission. Come back," she announced. There was a burst of static, and then the familiar sound of an encrypt program running. 

"Sticks, this is Colonel Darklighter. You and your brother are welcome to form up. You're twelve, and Anakin, you'll have to be designated Rogue thirteen for now," He said quickly. Anakin smiled. 

"Affirmative lead," he responded, bringing his XJ-3 fighter around to vector toward the rest of the Rogues. Jania's voice now, on a private channel to him. "Alright, Thirteen. We're a wing pair now. Follow my lead, keep your senses open, and whatever you do _don't_ get shot up, okay?" she instructed. 

"Yes, Sticks," he responded. The fact that they were a wing pair meant that Rogue Eleven must have been killed. Anakin wondered if Jania knew who that was. _Of course she did, she knows every Rogue back to front, no matter how new they are._

They were fast approaching the battle now, and Anakin was able to distinguish individual Yuuzhan Vong ships and their pilots from each other. Though their signals were distorted, they were none the less loud and very present. It was a sense that would give Anakin an unprecedented advantage in flight. 

"Three ahead. You take number three," Jania ordered. Their force connection to each other meant that they could also communicate much quicker than any other Rogue. Jania had designated each skip a number, sent that to Anakin, and then ordered him to take the third. 

"Affirmative," he said. He didn't want to waste his torpedoes or shadow bombs, so he set his lasers for quad fire and angled in at the same degree as his sister. His targeting reticule went red, and he tightened down on the trigger. A single laser bolt skitted away a hair before the other three, distracting the Dovin Basal shield system. His three laser bolts hit home, forcing the skip into an uncontrolled dive. Seconds later, it broke apart. 

He checked his readout, and found Jania had taken her two skips already. He exhaled in astonishment. His sister was good. 

His danger sense tingled, and he sensed five skips inbound on them. Four of them converged on Jania's X-wing. "Sticks, dive, now!" he shouted. Jania nosed down instinctively, and throttled to maximum. Anakin let the force guide his hand, and pulled around to fire on the skips following her. He was cued by the mystical power, and tightened the trigger. A blue torpedo streaked away into the centre of the four skips. _I don't remember selecting torpedoes_. 

The warhead exploded violently, utterly disintegrating the four ships. Excellent, four down. Now he only needed worry about the one on his tail. Strange, he could no longer sense it. "Thanks, Little Brother. You're clear," Jania reported to him. 

"Thanks, Sticks."

"The _Ralroost_ is taking hits, Little Brother. Follow me on that frigate analog," she ordered. Anakin didn't reply, merely kept pace with her manoeuvre. By force agreement, they both utilised their shadow bombs. 

At the same time, Jania and Anakin unleashed a pair of shadow bombs each. They immediately turned and vectored away, but still guided their bombs at the frigate. In his mind, Anakin could see the coral frigate incinerating as a bright orange flare erupted behind him. A flare in his danger sense prompted him to dodge out of the way of a magma missile and a skip on his tail. Setting his throttle back and cutting sharply left, Anakin got the ship in his sights. Tightening on his trigger, he blew it out of existence. 

Excellent. That was a total of five skips. He was an ace of Rogue Squadron already. 

"Don't celebrate too long, Little Brother. We've got six skips converging on lead. We've got to aid him, now." Jania stated. Her voice was very professional, emotionless. For the first time, Anakin truly admired his sister for what she did. She was one of the best fighter pilots in the galaxy, and a real hero. 

"Affirmative, Sticks. After you," he replied. 

Swooping in toward the X-wing marked Rogue Leader, Anakin and Jania each took three targets, using lasers only. Jania set her lasers for dual fire, while Anakin remained on quad shot. Jania's first skip evaporated, then her second. Her third looped away, and tried to take a bead on its new attacker. All of this before Anakin had even managed to centre his first skip in his sights. 

He tightened his trigger, and sheared target one into two pieces. Then both of the other skips broke in opposite directions, switching their targets from Colonel Darklighter to Anakin. Letting the force guide his course of action, Anakin nosed right and fired a quad blast just above the skip – just as the pilot suddenly climbed to get out of his sights. All four shots struck home, burning and melting coral. 

An instant later, he slammed his yoke forward and went into a sharp dive. He couldn't understand why he had done it – his target skip had banked right to get behind him. But, as any sensible Jedi would do, he trusted in the force. It was only a second before he had his explanation. 

A high concentration of plasma balls and magma missiles cut through the spot he would have been had he not dived. Their source was what seemed to be a corvette analog, but it bristled with greater numbers of smaller weapons. This must have been the Yuuzhan Vong equivalent of a Lancer Frigate. To save confusion, he had Fiver designate it as the _Lancer_. 

He felt his target ship's life sign wink out in the force – Jania had cut back around and taken it out. He spoke quickly to her. "Sticks, Cover me on a run against the _Lancer_," he instructed. Even though he was under her command, such a request was quite acceptable.

To his surprise, Colonel Darklighter's voice answered him "you are covered, Thirteen."

"On both sides, Little Brother," Jania's voice. Anakin smiled, and brought his reticule around to face the big ship. The smaller weapons on the ship were also much faster than the big launchers on other Vong Ships. It meant that trying to get a clear shot at the _Lancer_ would be difficult at best.

Jinking at every opportunity, letting the force guide which way he ducked or juked, Anakin prepared a single shadow bomb. That was all that would be required to put the _Lancer_ out of commission. Two skips began heading directly for him, their plasma weapons closing to range. _Ah, Jania…_

One second before they would have been able to hit him, Gavin and Jania both pumped two quad bursts into each of their targets. Colonel Darklighter's skip detonated in a brilliant coral cloud, but Jania's managed to absorb both bursts with its Dovin Basal. It was still forced to pull out, though. 

Waiting for his cue from the force, Anakin got a good grip on the torpedo in his banks. And then it was time – the angle perfect, the _Lancer_'s weapons on recycle, the distance between ships optimal. He released the shadow bomb and swooped away, Colonel Darklighter and Jania keeping with his every move. 

"Thirteen, why didn't you fire?" the Colonel's voice asked, sounding clam but irritated. 

"I did fire, lead," Anakin informed him. He had forgotten that Shadow bombs were still a relatively new innovation on behalf of the Jedi. The results would speak for themselves, however. Still directing the bomb behind him, he felt it reach the bulkhead of the _Lancer_. Behind him was the familiar brilliant orange flash, and he didn't need the force to imagine Colonel Darklighter's surprised yet satisfied expression.

"Neat trick, Thirteen. Sticks, Rogue seven is without wingman. Help him out. Thirteen, form up on me," Colonel Darklighter ordered. An excited grin on his face, Anakin throttled up to maximum. 

"Yes, sir," he complied. 

***

"Two from above, Corran," Luke Skywalker warned his fellow Jedi pilot. He saw Corran's ship dive, and thought no more of it. Corran was among the most capable pilots in the galaxy, he could handle himself. 

His danger sense flared, and he found himself climbing 90 degrees to his previous course. A flight of four Coralskippers zipped past his exhaust, and then looped around to follow him again. Settling into the force, Luke cut sharply to starboard, bringing his throttle back to one third. It gave him a turning circle that surpassed anything the skips could manage at their speed, and he found himself immediately in a good position to fire. 

His lasers set to quad shot, he fired once – and scored a kill. He fired a second time. 

Two Kills. 

Banking to port, he fired a third time and scored a third kill. Just he took aim on the final skip, Corran Horn's cycling lasers burned through it, rendering it inoperable. 

"Thanks, Corran," Luke said. 

"Returning a favour, Farmboy," Corran replied. 

There was a crackle on his comm coming from the general fleet frequency. "This is Admiral Traest Kre'fey on the _Ralroost_. We are taking hits from a Cruiser Analog and are loosing shields. We need help now," the Bothan Admiral's voice was calm, but Luke felt the strong tension that registered in the force. Their ship would not last long. 

"Rogue Squadron responding," he heard Colonel Darklighter's voice. _Not surprising, the _Ralroost _is their mothership_. Luke knew that Anakin and Jania would also be participating in the assault, and ached to join them. Their efforts, however, were tied up here distracting a Skip carrier from the _Viscount_. 

"Sabers, Wild Knights, Kyp's Dozen, continue your attacks. _Shadow_, Horn, on me," he ordered. Luke could sense Mara's relief that she would be going to aid the Rogues, and also Corran's mild inconvenience to be pulled out of his current battle. 

The three ships formed up, and blasted off to save the _Ralroost_.

***

As Anakin approached the Cruiser analog that was relentlessly chewing through the _Ralroost_'s shields he got an increased sense of timidity. The Coralskippers seemed concentrated, and there was barely a second when his danger sense wasn't screaming at him. Bouncing his X-wing, rolling, banking, juking, skipping, inverting – anything to stay out of the way of magma missiles and plasma balls. 

_If Colonel Darklighter can do it without the force, then I will be just fine_, Anakin reassured himself. 

The _Ralroost_'s shields were at approximately forty three percent efficiency, and failing by about six percent with every thirty seconds. It did not have long. 

"Sticks, Thirteen – the Rogues have you covered. Make a full-speed run at the cruiser analog using those shadow bombs of yours and then fall back. Unload as much as you can on the first run," Colonel Darklighter ordered. 

"Affirmative," Jania responded for both of them. Accelerating to full throttle, Anakin opened himself fully to the force and again let it guide his piloting. His shadow bombs armed, he approached the gigantic cruiser from its starboard underside. He waited for his cue, and kept wary for Coralskippers. 

"Little Brother, come back around and head in at my new angle. Shadow bombs ineffective from this side," Jania ordered. Not questioning his more experienced sister, Anakin banked away and positioned himself at the angle his sister had designated. 

He immediately saw why. The cruiser analog was swelled at both ends, too thick for even shadow bombs to do significant damage to. However, from this angle he had a clear shot at the centre of the big cruiser where the Yorik coral was thinnest. From this point of view, the ship should break in half. 

Instead of waiting for a force cue, this time Anakin simply fired his four bombs after Jania did hers. Neither pilot dared stay close to the cruiser while the bombs were inbound, and headed back to where the rest of the Rogues were tied up shooting out Coralskippers. 

For all the distance between the cruiser and his X-wing, the shock wave was still strong enough to rock the craft and threaten to stall it. Luckily, it stayed online and at full power. A quick check of his rear vision showed the cruiser badly damaged, and slowly drifting into two halves. That victory was soured, however, when he noticed the escape pods spewing from the _Ralroost_. 

"Appreciate the help, Rogues, but our systems are at zero functionality. I've given the order to abandon ship. Cover us, if you can," Admiral Kre'fey's voice asked. The positive response from Colonel Darklighter belied the fact that three rogues had died in that assault on the cruiser. 

"Count on us, Admiral," he responded. 

"We're here to cover you, Admiral," came a new voice. Anakin recognised it as his uncle's, and immediately stretched out through the force to find him. There he was, along with his aunt Mara and Corran Horn, scattering a new wave of inbound Skips. 

Their arrival made Anakin feel just that much safer, but something in the force was nagging at him. At this rate, the battle would never be won.

***

Corran Horn swooped down behind a skip and vaped it with a perfectly position quad burst from his lasers. From the _Ralroost_, the first of the escape pods was launching. The Bothan assault cruisers had a very convenient system of launching their escape pods in waves, designed for specifically this situation. A tight knot of escape pods was much easier to defend than a string of single pods. 

"Kre'fey here. We're going to run for the _Viscount_ and land in her reserve fighter bay on the _starboard_ side. Distance between ships can be covered in three minutes. Each wave will launch at five minute intervals to give the fighters time to run cover and regroup," he informed the covering fighters. 

"Affirmative, Admiral," Gavin Darklighter answered on behalf of all the X-wings. 

"Corran, five coming in planetside. They're ours," Luke instructed him, pulling in front and to the right of Corran's fighter. He sent a confirmation through the force, and throttled up even with him. 

It was easy for Corran to bracket the leader of the formation, but he sensed that Luke had already targeted that one. He dropped down a couple of metres, and centred his sights on the centre skip. Setting his lasers to cycle, Corran opened at maximum range, every so often snagging the fighter in front or behind of his target skip. 

While the Dovin Basals were distracted, Corran fired one of five remaining torpedoes. It streaked away, closing the distance between them in seconds. The explosion of the warhead destroyed the centre fighter and the two skips either side of it, but the final and first fighters got away cleanly. 

Flicking his weapons back to quad fire, he accelerated to maximum and began tracking the last fighter – he sensed Luke fire on and destroy the leader. The fifth fighter began a lazy loop that seemed like tactical suicide to Corran. It would bring him directly into his laser brackets. _Well, I can't help it if the Vong pilots are _that_ depressed._ Waiting for the right time, his finger hovered on the trigger. 

Corran only had a seconds warning.

"Corran, Dive, now!" a familiar but momentarily forgotten voice screamed at him.

Slamming his ship into a downward spiral and accelerating past what was recommended safe by the inertial compensator, he _almost_ managed to completely avoid the torrent of magma missiles and plasma discharges that sizzled through the space he had just occupied. 

"Clearing your back," the voice said again. He recognised it now, as Gavin Darklighter's, an old squadmate from when he was with the Rogues. 

"Thanks, kid," he said. There was a burst of static that could have been a snort or just interference. Because of his fighter pilot's ego, Corran took it that Gavin was amused. With that thought, Corran cut back around to help in the clearing of his back. 


End file.
